In the past a number of tools have been developed using the slide hammer principle, that is, a weight which slides along a shaft with a stop which causes an impact to the work piece and has been used extensively in auto-body work such as U. S. Pat. No. 4,753,104 which is a dent removing, tool or the impact puller and installer of U.S. Pat. No. 4,6748,878.
Other devices have been provided to loosen "frozen" nuts and bolts by providing a strike tool which must be struck with a hammer such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,902 or the use of the handle as a striking force of U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,828.
In some hard to reach areas it is difficult to get a socket on a nut or bolt and then even more difficult to find room to swing a hammer to hit the handle affixed to the socket and in the case of a ratchet handle, the blow on the handle is destructive to the ratchet teeth. In cases where and open end wrench is used it is again difficult to hit the wrench at the proper angle to loosen or tighten a nut or bolt. Also, this type of arrangement can be dangerous as the wrench must be held with one hand while being struck with a hammer, placing the user's hand in danger of being struck also, and the present invention addresses these and other problems.